SUMMARY
- The Red Bull racing team has been facing some conflicts recently that also led to rumors about Max quitting the Red Bull racing team.
- Max Verstappen's contract allows him to leave red bull if the team director Helmut Marko leaves.
Max Verstappen-led Red Bull racing team has been dominating the circuits for some time now. Despite their perfect win record, the team has been facing some conflict within. There were rumors about Red Bull racing director Helmut Marko leaving the team for allegedly leaking the messages between Christian Horner and a colleague.
After the Saudi Arabia GP, Max Verstappen also threatened to leave Red Bull as Helmut Marko left. On hearing the Dutch driver’s condition, Helmut Marko said that nobody is bigger than the team and anybody can leave if they want to.
All of this led to an unsettling ride for the team and the fans. However, Max Verstappen during a recent interview with Sky Sports talked about his plans to stay with the team till the end of his contract.
Max Verstappen plans on staying till his contract ends
The three championship title winner scared everyone with the threat to leave Red Bull if the director left. However, in a recent interview, Max showed his willingness to stick with the team despite the recent controversies surrounding the team.
BREAKING: Max Verstappen intends to stay at Red Bull until at least 2028 when his contract ends 📃 pic.twitter.com/iCktUy0oeN
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) March 21, 2024
Verstappen said, “And when I go home, I think about the a lot about things don’t include Formula One and I have a lot of as well, you know?“, he added, “so for me, um, you know, these kind of things also, like I know that I have a contract with the team to the end of 28 and I’m very happy also with all the people that I’m working with, you know, because going really well.”
He also said, “So you know we should be focusing on that and really enjoy what we are doing. And I think that we do that, you know, of course, the previous weekends was a lot of talk, but I think we try to put that behind as a team, you know, and just focus on what’s happening on track“.
Max believes that the team has been facing a little friction and controversy but it is nothing the team can’t overcome. The Dutch driver is focused on getting better results with his current team at least till the contract expires.
Red Bull was unaware of Max Verstappen’s exit clause
Certain conditions go into a contract that makes sure the drivers don’t jump teams without an actual cause. This provides a guarantee to the team. However, drivers can add conditions to the contract that allow them to leave the team without getting penalized.
⚠️ In recent weeks, News broke out that Max Verstappen’s Red Bull contract includes an exit clause that allows him to leave the team if Helmut Marko is removed.
Interestingly, this exit clause was not originally part of the contract Verstappen and Red Bull signed in 2022.… pic.twitter.com/D3BOOVCYy9
— F1 News (@octagram_f1) March 18, 2024
One such example is Max Verstappen’s exit clause that allows the Dutch driver to leave the team if the Red Bull racing director ever leaves. According to reports, this was not part of the original deal that was signed back in 2022.
The changes to the contract were made by Marko and Verstappen without the knowledge of the team or team principal Christian Horner. Helmut used his authority as a director at Red Bull to make the changes, guaranteeing a longer stint with the team.